Playing on the back end of back-to-back games, the
Sharks had a reason to be tired. That still doesn't excuse them from blowing a
3-goal lead in the 3rd period, then falling 7 seconds into overtime 6-5 to the
Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre in Ontario on Friday night. It was the
first time in team history that they lost after leading by three goals or more
in the 3rd period. It was a complete implosion by a team that had neither the
mettle or the will to beat the dishrag Senators after grabbing a commanding
lead.

There was plenty of blame to pass around after this nightmare of
a game, but head coach Peter DeBoer did nothing to stem the tide that was a
massive momentum shift in the 3rd period. No time out, no line adjustments,
nothing. It was as if the DeBoer knew what was coming and simply accepted his
team's fate.

"Just one of those nights," was how the Sharks summed up
the evening. Few words from a man who had few solutions.

The collapse
might be considered the worst in team history in the regular season given the
commanding lead that they simply squandered. No legs in that disastrous 3rd
period and no adjustments led to a gut punch loss.

While San Jose
salvaged a point, it was their third loss in four games on the trip.

The game winning goal was the perfect climax to the fiasco. Ottawa wins the
draw at center ice, then races up ice and scores in a mere 7 seconds. Logan
Couture lost his glove on the faceoff and elected to retrieve it rather then
play defense, as Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl skated flat footed as Matt Duchene
put a 6th puck past Sharks goaltender. Aaron Dell.

If the 3rd period
and overtime were the nightmare, the 1st and 2nd periods were a dream.

After a special teams letdown in Toronto on Thursday night, the Sharks did an
about face early in the game, albeit via the penalty kill. A Brendan Dillon
tripping penalty at 5:01 of the 1st period, San Jose converted a short-handed
chance when Logan Couture sprung Tomas Hertl with a pass up the gut. Hertl beat
two Senator defenders to the puck then raced up ice and snapped a shot from
between the circles that beat Craig Anderson for his 11th goal of the season.

A defensive lapse allowed the Senators to tie the game 5 minutes
later, when Ryan Dzingel took a Mark Stone feed from behind the net and waited
out Aaron Dell before sliding the puck across the goal line from the right
post. Brent Burns and Dillon committed to the left side of the ice, leaving the
entire right side undefended. Dzingel was the only person in front of the net
and had all day to figure out what Dell was going to do before working the puck
around him.

San Jose regained the lead 3 minutes later when Joakim
Ryan fired a shot from the left point that clipped Melker Karlsson on the way
to the net.

Johnny Oduya setup a Sharks power play 17 second into the
2nd period after he hauled down Hertl. San Jose looked as if they would allow
the opportunity to go by the wayside until the second power play unit stepped
on the ice. Joonas Donakoi initiated things by skating past a defender up the
right side before unleashing a shot on Anderson. The Senators goaltender
stopped the shot but allowed the puck to kick out to the slot where Chris
Tierney was there to scoop it up and put a follow up shot in the net.

Dzingel took another tripping penalty 90 seconds
later, which setup the Sharks second power play goal in as many chances. Logan
Couture setup a Burns one timer that zipped under Anderson's glove hand for the
defenseman's 7th goal of the season.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic rushed a
clearing chance, floating it over the glass for a delay of game penalty less
than a minute later, setting up a Mark Stone power play goal to make it a 4-2
game.

Hertl bagged his second goal of the evening with a weird
wrap-around attempt that hit the inside of Anderson's stick and deflected into
the goal. The Senators goaltender was square on his goal line, but when the
puck shot across the slot, it hit the big blade on the side facing the goal
before slipping between Anderson's skates.

Derrick Brassard scored 26
seconds into the 3rd period by throwing the puck at Dell from the right corner.
The shot found a crack between Dell and the right post, on the most improbable
of shots.

Dell made a trio of big saves at the 6 minute mark of the
period after the Sharks defense went AWOL. The fatigue of back to back games
clearly reared its ugly head as the Sharks just ran out of gas.

Matt
Duchene cut the sharks lead to a single goal with his 8th goal of the season at
8:25 after he poked home a rebound from the right side.

Mike Hoffman
tied the game at 5-5 with a bullet from the right wing boards on a Duchene
feed. Dell was late to cover the right side of the net, allowing Hoffman's 10th
goal of the season with 9:12 left in regulation.

Game
Notes:

* Aaron Dell deserved batter on a night where he made 37
saves. The last four goals were all on his defense.

* San Jose was
owned in the faceoff circle, losing 48 of 76 draws. None was bigger than the
draw in overtime which ended up in the Sharks net.

* Barclay Goodrow
returned to the ice after missing 10 games with an upper body injury. The
Sharks also played Tim Heed, sitting both Dylan Demelo and Joel Ward. The
Sharks sent forward Marcus Sorensen to the Barracuda to make room for Goodrow.

SHARE THIS STORY:

What did you think of
this article? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums

What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums